Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hi All,

I own a beautiful 2017 4003 which I absolutely love to play, but have never been able to fully eliminate fret buzz. It has round wounds from the factory, the neck is almost dead straight, I have raised the action to the upper limit I find acceptable, but I still get some buzz when I'm playing around the middle of the fretboard. The buzzing usually occurs around the 9th to 14th fret area. Not too bad but still happens. The buzzing does not usually come through the amp, only when I am playing unplugged. I have always heard Rickenbacker basses are "buzzy" "get used to it just play!", but I thought I would see what you all think. Also, the buzzing makes me wonder if it could lead to fret wear on the frets that are buzzing? I assume the strings are rubbing on those frets? Thank you for the replies.

Jim

To me that is the classic Ric tone with rounds. Especially with a flat adjusted neck.

Some folks would suggest flats, that wouldn't be me.

They also play fine with more relief like .30mm measured at pitch at 9th fret on e and g string with first and last frets depressed. 3/42 action at e 12 th fret and g 2/32 12th fret no press.
But sounds like you have the classic setup going well for you. I would not worry about any fret wear.

Thank you for your replies. I will check those measurements on my bass. Sounds like everything is completely normal for my 4003.

Oops I meant 3/32 on the e side as well as the g side for action. Some people go lower.

lumgimfong wrote: ↑Tue Jan 17, 2023 11:48 pm Oops I meant 3/32 on the e side as well as the g side for action. Some people go lower.

Yeah, 3/42 seemed a bit low to me!

By tweaking action and relief, you should be able to get pretty low action without buzzing. I can get my 2020 4003 down to about 1.25mm (a bit more than 3/64ths) on the G string and 1.5mm (a bit under 1/16th) on the E without buzzing (both at the 12th fret). But the neck has a bit more relief on the bass side to give the low E space to vibrate.

If it’s not coming through an amp it’s a non-issue.

henry5 wrote: ↑Sun Feb 12, 2023 3:05 pm If it’s not coming through an amp it’s a non-issue.

+1

If you are getting fret buzz only in the middle of the neck, then there is probably a slight backbow...

If you were Chris Squire back in the day, it would have been a non-issue.

Have you ever heard players like Geddy Lee or Flea play acoustically? It’s pure buzz, so much so that it’s actually part of their sound.

henry5 wrote: ↑Wed May 24, 2023 8:43 am Have you ever heard players like Geddy Lee or Flea play acoustically? It’s pure buzz, so much so that it’s actually part of their sound.

Yep, they really dig in. To me it's a great sound when playing through an amp, a bit less so when acoustic.